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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25268146">Murdy's Day Off</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_t2/pseuds/for_t2'>for_t2</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bad Decisions, Dark Fantasy, Demons, Escape, Existential Crisis, F/F, Fate &amp; Destiny, Hope vs. Despair, Horror, Light-Hearted, Stars, Tragedy, Travel, Vacation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:41:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,271</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25268146</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_t2/pseuds/for_t2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Noémie left her world to travel the paths between worlds, but she wasn't expecting to pick up a grumpy murder demon along the way. Especially not a murder demon grumpy about having a vacation</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Female Character/Original Female Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Murdy's Day Off</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Beware the strangers found on the side of the roads between worlds. Especially the attractive ones. At least, that was the advice Noémie had been given multiple times by multiple people before she left, and it was the advice drilled into every child in her corner of the worlds from the day they were old enough to speak.</p><p>As tranquil as it was, not a lot of people stayed on her world after they grew old enough to travel the paths between worlds, and not a lot of people chose to come back. She had debated it, but in the end, Noémie was no exception, and she set out to find… well, she wasn’t really what exactly she wanted to find, but she hoped it would be something interesting.</p><p>So when she saw a stranger slumped at the side of the path, in a quiet sort of brooding, as much as that little piece of advice tsked at her in the back of her mind, she figured what the hell. She didn’t leave her world not to take risks.</p><p>“Hey.” Noémie plunked herself down into the field next to the stranger (who was maybe even more attractive close up, with dark lines curling up the strong angles of her skin and around her intensely deep eyes). “You okay?” When the stranger didn’t react, she tentatively reached out. Placed a hand on the stranger’s shoulder. “Do you—”</p><p>She jumped back as the stranger snarled loudly, mouth full of exceedingly pointy teeth. She couldn’t jump back far though before she just froze in spot, the stranger’s eyes capturing her in a hypnotic sort of paralysis.</p><p>For a moment, the stranger examined her.</p><p>“Sorry.” Noémie felt her paralysis release as the stranger pouted. “I’m not supposed to kill you.”</p><p>“Kill me?” It really wasn’t Noémie’s fault if her voice got a little high-pitched. Not only did she not want to die, she had only just gotten started on her adulthood travels. She hadn’t found out anything yet.</p><p>“That’s what I said.”</p><p>“Kill me?” It wasn’t Noémie’s fault if she repeated herself either. It wasn’t the easiest concept to wrap her head around.</p><p>“What’s the matter?” The stranger glared at her. “You never seen a murder demon before?”</p><p>“Uh…” No. Definitely not. “Not really?” She didn’t remember having murder demons back on her world, and it seemed like the type of thing she’d remember. “No?”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>“So, um…” Noémie had a lot of questions. A lot. “If you’re a murder demon, why can’t you… you know…?”</p><p>“Murder you?” Noémie nodded. “Boss says I can’t.”</p><p>“Murder demons have bosses?”</p><p>The murder demon glared at Noémie again, this time a little more probing. “You ask a lot of questions.”</p><p>“I, uh, just left my home world for the first time, and, uh…” Noémie swallowed. Steeled herself up. If she was going to discover anything, she would have to take risks. And she could take risks. “You could try answering a lot of questions.”</p><p>It took a moment, but eventually the murder demon snorted. “My boss says I’m too enthusiastic. Too creative with my work.”</p><p>“Your work being murder?”</p><p>“He says we’ve got standards and schedules and blah blah blah.” The murder demon shook her head. “Too creative, fucking bullshit.”</p><p>“Oh.” Noémie didn’t really know what to say. None of her friends had ever been fired. She had never been fired. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“It’s a simple concept. I’m a murder demon. I murder. It’s what I do. I’m allowed to take pride in my work, right? I’m allowed to innovate.” With every word, the murder demon’s eyes flashed dangerously. “And I like it! It’s what I was born to do, it’s what I was trained to, it’s what I’ve always done!”</p><p>Noémie stopped her hand halfway across the air. Decided it would be better not to pat her reassuringly. “Sorry?”</p><p>“Like, who even came up with the idea of ‘vacation’?” The murder demon hissed. “If I can’t murder anyone, then what the fuck am I supposed to do?”</p><p>* </p><p>The more they wandered down the paths between worlds, the more Noémie relaxed. Her newfound companion might be a murder demon, but she was a defanged murder demon. And really not that bad company.</p><p>“That doesn’t happen.”</p><p>“Really? Nobody ever messes up a murder?”</p><p>“It doesn’t happen.”</p><p>“Have you ever messed up a murder?”</p><p>“No!”</p><p>The more Noémie relaxed, however, the tenser the murder demon got. Defanged, perhaps, but still relying on what looked like a tremendous amount of self-restraint to stay defanged.</p><p>“So what happens if you have to murder a murder demon? Like a murder demon murder demon murder?”</p><p>“There are specialists.”</p><p>“Do you want to be a specialist?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>And, unfortunately, the murder demon was not great a coming up with ideas for where to travel. And for all the worlds the paths could lead them too, Noémie was even worse at coming up with ideas. Or maybe it was the opposite: there were too many worlds and she was too good at coming up with ideas.</p><p>“So what happens if another murder demon steals your murder?”</p><p>“I murder them.”</p><p>“But what happens if they murder you first?”</p><p>“Then I don’t murder them.”</p><p>“But what if you make them think that they murdered you, but actually you didn’t?”</p><p>“Then I murder them.”</p><p>“But what if your murder steals your murder and murders the other murder demon before they can murder you and then murders you so that—”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>But, hey, Noémie had all the time in the worlds.</p><p>“Do you have a name?”</p><p>“Not in any language you’d understand.”</p><p>“Do you have a nickname.”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Can I call you Murdy?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Please?”</p><p>*</p><p>After travelling through a handful of worlds, all with wonders beyond anything Noémie could’ve imagined from her flat tranquil (she didn’t want to use the word boring) little world,  she was starting to think she’d never get tired of travelling. She was starting to wonder if she’d ever want to go back to that world.</p><p>Murdy, however, was a different story. Each new world seemed to make her grumpier than the last. And as much as Noémie was happy to have somebody to travel with, it was starting to get on her nerves. So, she figured she’d approach the situation in the everlasting spirit of friendship.</p><p>“So, what do you think?”</p><p>Murdy looked out at the dark, gloomy mists of the world Noémie had picked, at the deep canyons and murky shadows, the cool stagnant air, and sighed. “It’s okay.”</p><p>“I thought it would make you feel at home.” It seemed like the type of world a murder demon would come from. Dark and spooky and dangerous and all that. “What does your home look like.”</p><p>Murdy shrugged. “Like this, just…” She sighed again. “Less rocks, more trees.”</p><p>“Well, I’m sure there’s some trees somewhere on this world.” Most worlds had trees (or, at least, things that looked more-or-less like trees). “Are your trees murder trees?”</p><p>Murdy let out an even longer sigh. “Let’s find those trees of yours.”</p><p>And walked ahead of Noémie.</p><p>*</p><p>“What about this one?” Noémie plucked the next book off the shelves of the library that stretched around this world. “How would you even start to pronounce it?”</p><p>Murdy sighed. “It’s an Ageje demon dialect.” Picked the book out of Noémie’s hand and slid it back onto the shelf. “And it’s just smut.”</p><p>“Smut?” Noémie’s cheeks went a little red. “Like, demon smut? How does it—”</p><p>“I don’t think you want to know.” Murdy kept walking through the shelves, oblivious to Noémie’s attempts to fill her arms with books. “But it’s makes for really entertaining murders.”</p><p>“Really? How?” The little world Noémie came from didn’t really have murders. If people got that angry, they just left. “Wait. Does that mean you’ve…”</p><p>“A couple.” Murdy’s eyes gazed upwards into nostalgia. “I liked those murders.”</p><p>Her voice sounded so forlorn that Noémie almost didn’t want to pry more details out of her. Fortunately, another title caught her attention. “Ooh, what about this one?”</p><p>* </p><p>“I could do this forever.” Noémie stretched contently as she floated on the surface of the very, very blue water. “Forever.” They didn’t have water like this (oceans, they were called) on the little world she came from.</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>“Oh, come on.” Murder demons, as it turned out, were very good swimmers. But Murdy was not amused, even as she floated next to Noémie under the warm triple suns. “You don’t think this is nice?”</p><p>“I guess.”</p><p>They had seen the fishes earlier (Noémie didn’t they could ever be that huge), had gone for a stroll through the soft sand dunes, had even races down a few rivers, but Murdy was as grumpy as ever. “Well, I think it’s relaxing.”</p><p>“Hm.”</p><p>Noémie stretched again. Tries to lean back and let the gentle waves relax her. But this time, it was her who sighed.</p><p>* </p><p>“I think I’m going to die!”</p><p>“Don’t be stupid.” Murdy kept fiddling with her bowl of noodles, barely noticing the tears welling in Noémie’s eyes, the fire burning in her mouth, and all after just one slurp. “It’s not spicy enough for that.”</p><p>“My mouth feels like it’s going to die!”</p><p>Murdy sighed. Pushed a bottle of water over. “I murder people for a living. Trust me, nothing about you is going to die.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Oh.” Noémie blinked. Ran her tongue across her lips. The food on this world was spicier than anything she had ever tasted back on her little world, and, hey, maybe it wasn’t that bad. “You sure?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>When Murdy nodded, she took another slurp. Maybe it was actually pretty good. She got hallway through her bowl before she realised Murdy hadn’t even taken a single slurp yet. “Okay.” She set her utensils down, put on her most serious tone of voice (something her little world was famous for). “What’s wrong?”</p><p>“Nothing.”</p><p>“You’re not eating.” The more Murdy kept fiddling with her noodles, the more Noémie got frustrated. “You’ve been moping ever since I met you. Something’s obviously wrong.”</p><p>“You don’t…” Murdy’s eyes flared briefly before she bit back her words. Instead, she just held up a slice of meat. “Look at this.”</p><p>“Does it taste good?”</p><p>“It’s dead!” She slammed the meat back down into her bowl. “And your stupid big fish with their nice, sharp teeth, and your books of dead people and your mystery theatres of dead people and your hotels where famous people died and… They’re all dead!” Her eyes flared before dropping. “And I didn’t get to murder them.”</p><p>For a second, Noémie struggled to find the words to respond. “I’m sorry?”</p><p>“I’m a murder demon.” Murdy slumped to the table in her moping. “It’s what I do. It’s what I’m supposed to do. And all of this just… just… It just reminds me of what I’m not doing.”</p><p>“Oh.” Noémie ran a hand down Murdy’s back in what she hoped was a comforting manner for a murder demon. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“I hate my boss and his stupid ‘vacations’.”</p><p>Noémie could sympathise. “You are allowed to take a break.” It’s basically what she was doing, leaving to travel the paths and the worlds between worlds. “You don’t have to work all the time.”</p><p>“But I’m a murder demon.” Murdy managed to slump even lower. “What am I if I’m not murdering?”</p><p>*  </p><p>The problem, Noémie decided, was that she needed to find a world that would both not remind Murdy of murder and would help solve’s Murdy’s existential crisis (or, at least, that’s what one of the books she had read in the library called it).</p><p>This was, to put it mildly, not an easy task.</p><p>But Noémie didn’t set off from her little world not to take risks. She set off to find a destination, and a destination she was determined to find. So she looked through the maps, consulted the guides, read the maps some more, and… </p><p>“It’s beautiful.”</p><p>“You think?” Noémie smiled as she sat back in the grass next to Murdy, staring up at the sky full of stars in every direction.</p><p>“Sure.” And for once, Murdy seemed something like relaxed (or, at least, as relaxed as a murder demon could be). “They’re so… shiny.”</p><p>“You know, the stars are there forever.” That’s what they taught on the Noémie left, and even if one of those books in the library said differently, she figured Murdy didn’t need to know. Not now. “They are shiny.”</p><p>Not now.</p><p>“Murdy?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“When your vacation’s over…” Now. “Do you want to keep travelling with me?” Noémie cursed internally when she saw Murdy tense right back up. “I know you hate your boss, and there’s so much things we could do, and—”</p><p>“They’re expecting to return?”</p><p>“Do you want to return?” Noémie put a hand up before Murdy could repy. “And don’t tell me you were born to be a murder demon. Tell me what you want to do.”</p><p>Murdy tapped her claws on her chest, thinking, maybe the slightest glimmer of hoping just peeking through her eyes. “Do… do you want to stay with you?”</p><p>“Yes.” Noémie nodded. “Absolutely.”</p><p>A glimmer that flared out just as quickly as it appeared. “Wait. You’re not from my world, are you?”</p><p>“No?”</p><p>A glimmer that was replaced with a look of utmost suspicion. “Did my boss send you to test me?”</p><p>“What? No!”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yes!”</p><p>“Why didn’t you say so from the start?” Murdy stood up, all suspicion cleared away, replaced something different, without hope, without joy, almost… bloodthirsty. And her grin… “This means I get to murder you.”</p>
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